Foster parents release ‘baby’ back into wild
A Tokoroa couple who rescued an abandoned duckling continue to have twice daily visits with him in the wild.
It was by chance that Tokoroa couple Ron and Jo Samson and Pepe the duck’s lives collided.
Four months ago Pepe was abandoned by his parents in the middle of a road near Pureora Forest, south-west of Tokoroa.
Cold, wet and alone, while forestry trucks and wild cats lingered nearby, his chances were dismal.
But by chance the Samsons happened to be out collecting pine cones.
‘‘We were just going into the bush and I said to Jo ‘oh look there is a little paradise’ so we pulled up,’’ Ron said.
He said there were no other ducks around.
‘‘There was a big grass area on the side of the road so Jo got out and took him over there,’’ he said.
‘‘She then started heading back to the vehicle and I was laughing and said ‘look someone’s following you’.’’
Jo turned around to see the duckling hot on her heels.
‘‘He was right behind me so I picked him up and said ‘what do we do?’ ‘‘ she said.
Little did she know they would soon become doting foster parents.
‘‘We had never raised a paradise duck before but he was so little, wet and a bit cold,’’ she said.
‘‘We [took him home and] made up a bed for him in a shoe box with a baby blanket and a teddy bear for comfort and he slept in the hot water cupboard until he outgrew it.
‘‘He really felt the cold when he was little and he would get up and nestle around your neck,’’ she said.
A water bowl was set up for him to swim in and he lived off ‘‘Weetbix with a pinch of sugar’’ and Dine fish cat food.
‘‘He was pooping everywhere as ducks do so we were forever cleaning up after him,’’ Ron laughed.
Jo said ‘‘he was really really cute though, absolutely gorgeous really’’.
As he got bigger Pepe moved into the garden shed and enjoyed wandering around the couple’s garden.
‘‘The cat wasn’t allowed in the backyard anymore, he took over and every time she came in he would chase her out,’’ Ron laughed.
Jo said Pepe was always taking an interest in the backyard going-ons.
‘‘If we were digging the compost he was there getting worms and if I was dead-heading the pansies he was there but he would be picking the good pansies. He was a real character,’’ she laughed.
Despite their love of having Pepe around it soon became
"We [took him home and] made up a bed for him in a shoe box with a baby blanket and a teddy bear for comfort and he slept in the hot water cupboard until he outgrew it".
Jo Samson
apparent that it was time to set him free and Tokoroa’s Lake Moananui seemed like the ideal spot.
Ron said Pepe couldn’t be happier with his new home but he still enjoys seeing his foster parents twice a day.
‘‘When we go down he always makes a point of coming and saying hello and then he will go off again,’’ he said.
They encouraged locals to talk to him but not to pick him up and to keep their dogs away.
‘‘There are always dangers but he is happy.
‘‘We hope we have done the right thing releasing him here,’’ Jo said.